Hello there. My name is Fawn Nguyen, I teach at a public middle school in southern California. The voices behind these number talks and pattern talks are from my 6th and 8th graders during the 2013-2014 school year.

When tardy bell rings, I set the timer for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the question.

Students estimate the answer via all mental math — no calculators, no talking, no air writing.

When timer goes off, I set the timer again for 1 minute for students to talk with their neighbors.

I randomly call on 3 students — using Popsicle sticks or InstantClassroom — to share their thinking about the problem. I scribe as these students share. Everyone writes with me on their own notebook paper.

Then I ask the class if anyone used a different strategy than what the 3 students just shared.

I project this prompt for students to see as they walk in: Look back at our math talks for this week. Was there something else you wanted to share on those days but didn't? Whose strategy was new to you that you really like?

I also verbally add, “In addition to reflecting on the math talks, you can also tell me how math was this week for you. Do you feel you have a good grasp on what we’re doing? Why or why not? You have 5 minutes to write. So, write. Keep that pencil moving the whole time.”

I give credit for completion. When a kid is absent, he/she can just write down the date of absence and that’s that.

What I don’t do

A common practice with number talks is asking kids to signify that they have the answer by putting a thumbs-up against their chest (instead of raising their hand). I don’t do this because the thinking time is set by a timer, and I’m not calling on anyone during this time anyway. Nor do I want to scan a room of 40 students to see where their thumbs are.

I don’t have kids go to either side of the room (or to the center of the room) based on their answer — Brad Fulton does this with his students arguing that it forces all students to participate. I tried this, and it only confirmed my suspicion that many kids simply go to the same side that Linda Smartypants goes to.

I don’t teach kids — nor discourage them — to set up an input/output table to find the common differences to figure out the equations. I just don’t because doing so seems to render the "visual" aspect of visual patterns insignificant.

Stuff I often say during math talks

Thank you for sharing.

Please let me know if I’m not rephrasing you correctly. (I'm only rephrasing when I have trouble hearing the student.)

I want to make sure we’re writing down your thinking correctly, please slow down and tell us more about this step.

I’m not worried about the correct answer right now, I’m just interested in how you thought about the problem.

Your sharing of how you arrived at the incorrect answer is really important — I think we learn a lot from our mistakes, and as you can see, you weren't the only one who thought about it that way.

Did you change your mind or question your strategy after you talk with your neighbor?

Who did the problem differently than the 3 people whom I called on to share?